Month: November 2017

I’m finally plunking away at this last one late on the afternoon of the 30th.
It’s been an experience, but I’ve gotten through once again.
Seven years.
Looking back over what I’ve written, though, I’m not terribly upset about what I’ve brought out. Looking back, specifically, at 2012 was probably a good thing for me.
Today at work, I said something about the importance of having someone review my missives. I do sometimes write things that maybe aren’t immediate applicable. During a revision, however, I wonder how much I bury.
I really don’t do that, here. What you see is what you get.
And I got disrupted in writing this. First was this recruiter who looked me up in LinkedIn. It looks interesting. (How many companies do you see on Glassdoor with a 5.0 rating?)
Then a call from my patient advocate who I probably won’t be able to speak with after my health insurance changes next year.
So more changes ahead, probably. Whatever. Things are getting better. Are things as good as they were five years ago? Hard to say, really, but I’m excited.

As the year is coming to an end, any New Year’s resolution plans?
I have a few resolutions that I am going to try and accomplish in the new year.
First, I want to spend less money on frivolous things. I love makeup, but I really need to use what I have and stop adding tons of products every time someone is having a sale. I also need to stop buying groceries just because they look good, even though I have no idea how I am going to use them (although there are websites that will tell you what to make if you give them a list of ingredients).
Second, I want to stop caring so much about other people’s opinions of me. If it is constructive, that is one thing, but constantly telling me that the things I like are stupid, lame, ugly, etc., it doesn’t help me improve myself and it doesn’t improve my view of you either.
Third, I actually want to be serious about getting healthier. I know it is going to be hard to get to where I want to be and it is going to take time, so I need to work on changing bad habits and being impatient about results. I have already made a few small changes (drinking more water and using my FitBit), just have to set a goal and create a plan to achieve it.
Fourth, start working in a career field for my degree. I’m hoping the interview I talked about a few days ago is my path to this one, but if not, I will keep sticking to finding something where I want to be. It will come, I have always been a late bloomer.
I think that is enough for now. These may change but this is what I think at the moment.
Until tomorrow…

Today, another exercise in frustration. But I’m finished for the day. Interesting episodes of people power-tripping. It is what it is.

1. List 5 people you know, then describe each of them in 5 words.

Perhaps a bit too personal to name names, here, so I won’t. Readers can figure out who these people are…. (And if people can’t figure out who the first one is, I just don’t know what to say…. OD-only hint: none of them is here.)

Person A

Smart

Beautiful

Passionate

Love

Mine

Person B

Smart

Food

Wine

Loyal

Closeted?

Person C

Clueless

Scatterbrained

Matronly

Faithful

Isolated

Person D

Uninformed

Caring

Opinionated

Kitties

Tired

Person E

Done

Knowing

Guarding

Collected

Deciding

2. If you could have personally witnessed one event in history, what would you want to hav seen?

I’ve been kicking this one around for awhile, and am still not sure. First thing that came to mind? Oh, the huge manatee! Even in black and white, the Hindenberg was pretty spectacular.

Katrina? (Since there’s a Saints’ game tonight….) I’ve seen more storms than I’d ever like now, thank you very much. When I was nineteen, would have been a different story.

Mount St. Helens? I haven’t ever really seen a massive volcano. But, maybe in a few weeks, if the Mayans were right, that means the Yellowstone one is going to go off…..

It’s hard to pinpoint a single thing. Even moreso with my failing eyesight, and the realization that something that’s visually-spectacular often has lasting, widespread effects.

Who really saw what was going on during Watergate? Franz Ferdinand getting taken out (apologies if I sparked the earworm; only partially intentional)? Important, but only a small part of the whole story. 9/11? All over the TV when it happened, but the buildings and field were only parts to a larger story; a larger story you can’t see in a :30 clip on YouTube.

Just recycling one of the two prompts….If you could have personally witnessed one event in history, what would you want to have seen?
Woodrow Wilson’s machinations when it came to crafting the Treaty of Versailles. What a long-lasting disaster of history.
The US Senate didn’t ratify it, which was probably, in retrospect, a very good thing. If Wilson was as insidious as the most-recent progressive to hold the office, he would have just gone around the US process to get what he wanted.
I might could rap about this for pages, but today was another long day in another long week. Today was getting my Tysabri infusion. Tomorrow is going to be the dentist to get a tooth repaired.
I’m tired.
So tomorrow I’ll wrap up year seven. Am I proud that I’ve done it? Well, find out tomorrow.

What is a favorite hobby?
Other than shopping for makeup, because you know every girl has to have 1,000,000 lipsticks.
Cooking. I LOVE cooking!! Being in the kitchen makes me happy. I love browsing recipes, selecting ingredients, and making a complete dish. The feel of the knife in my hand, the sizzle of the skillet, the aroma in the air as each flavor is developed. Everything about cooking makes me happy (other than our overly sensitive smoke detector, that I have set off 3 or 4 times since we moved here less than a year ago). I also really dislike a glass top stove when I have been used to gas. You can’t blister on a glass top, it just won’t work.
I love trying new ingredients and recipes. It is just very fun to change up from the regular course of food. Before I met my spouse, I was very apprehensive to try new things. Ask him about the time he took me to an Indian restaurant the first time and I was utterly appalled by the entree I ordered until I tasted it, then I was in love. It was Saag Paneer, which if you don’t know is pureed spinach and farmer’s cheese. It looks like wet lawnmower clippings, but it tastes absolutely delicious. Thus began my love of Indian food. So much so that the first time I saw Ghee in a store, I shrieked and my mother thought there was something very wrong with me. Nope, just never thought I’d be able to find that in store.
I also have developed a serious love for the slow cooker. Always thought they were just for old ladies. Yeah, no, not even close. I use mine a couple times a month and will probably use it more now that winter is coming.
I could go on and on, but I’m sure you will get bored after awhile. So, here are some of the favorite recipes that I’ve tried thus far:

Coq Au Vin

Beouf Bourguignon

Chickpea Masala

Ratatouille

Cuban Sandwiches (the pork in this recipe is amazingly simple and DELICIOUS!!)

A lemon, butter white wine sauce that goes great with fish and potatoes

Spicy marinara

There are plenty more, but I’m going to make myself something to eat because I’ve made myself hungry 🙂
Until tomorrow…

Still touching from years ago, but I’ll skip whatever I wrote for NoJoMo back then. This bit was probably the first real signal that shit was about to turn really bad. How little I knew.

11/28/2012 – 11/28/2012

Pffft.

Made it in to the office today. Foaming disaster with some of the other business, but looks like I may be safe. For now.

On the bright side, I will get a pretty nice bonus this year after watching them dwindle away to nearly nothing the previous three.

Hospital still hasn’t gotten back to me about whether I need to come in to get re-leeched. I’m not sure if I wrote about that, but the doc called me on Thanksgiving, and said I still had problems, to take eight more horsepills.

I did. But I don’t remember if she said she wanted to re-check things. I mean, I was at my in-laws’ for Thanksgiving, ferrchrissakes! At the same time, it’s kind of cool to have young docs excited about dealing with somebody as fucked-up as I am, you know? Experiment.

Reaction and resampling that…..
And a prompt from my list: Do you have a fear that you want to overcome? What is it and do you have a plan to overcome it?
I feel like I’ve written this prompt previously, and I really don’t feel like answering it. Obviously I’ve had a long list of things the past few years.
I do occasionally have a plan to overcome things, but, really, I tend to take things as they come.
*cut*
Yeah, and I’m repeating what I just said, so this isn’t something I can really devote a lot more to. Things in life happen. You can’t plan for everything. How you respond to those things is, to me, key.
Lots today on Net Neutrality. I am happy that the FCC is getting rid of rules it didn’t have the legislative authority to implement. I’m also okay with network providers doing things against NN, like blocking Nazis. Yes, I may have just Godwined myself, but, well, I like having the freedom to buy Intertubes that’d allow me to avoid content like that.
Or to put it more bluntly, for the Redditers, if you’re big on NN, you like giving theater for Nazis and Kiddie Pr0n.
Enough of that, and I’ve killed my motivation to write more.
The Giants benched Eli Manning, and the Norks fired an ICBM. Both are signs of other issues.

Anything you are excited about?
I have an interview coming up in a few weeks that could very well be everything I was hoping for to start my career in the financial industry. It would put me in my ideal city (potentially) doing work that would support a cause that I believe in. It would take stress off of my spouse and it would make me feel like I was finally contributing to something, instead of sitting on the sidelines.
Other than that, there isn’t really anything I can think of that I’m excited about.
Until tomorrow…

I didn’t have anything set aside today, so I’m going to steal my wife’s prompt.Anything you are excited about?
Immediately, my Tysabri infusion Wednesday. I’m fatigued this week. It’s been crazy. But two more infusions for the year. My company hasn’t gotten out its health insurance information for next year, and I’m getting a little antsy about that.
I’m also excited about the Open Diary relaunch.
I suppose, though, things have so haphazard since May that my head is spinning. I am doing positive work at work, again. Unfortunately, I’m being told to do things that are incorrect. But, hey, this is how we’ve always done it, so there’s no way it can be wrong, right?
Lots and lots going on, but I really just want to curl up somewhere with my wife and enjoy the holiday.
Two prompts the next two days with recycling from the last sorta-okay year.

Do you ever feel conflicted when someone you admire comes under controversy?
Yes, I do. I don’t think that I couldn’t sit and wonder about whether or not it makes me a bad person to listen to Michael Jackson’s music or still enjoy shows with Kevin Spacey in them. They both made mistakes in their lives, but I feel as though I am supporting the art and not necessarily the person behind it. Yes, it is their art, but much more went into it than the deeds they are accused of.
I do still struggle with it though, from time to time. Everyone makes mistakes, but some are just greater than others. But supposedly, time heals all wounds.
Until tomorrow…

Do you prefer to be an educated, opinionated person, to just be an opinionated person?
Yes, I prefer to be an educated, opinionated person. I feel when you are better educated in your argument, you can make a better argument and it is easier for people to understand your point of view, as long as they are willing to learn it.
If there is a person who is dead set in there ways, no amount of facts or logic will help them to see a different way of looking at things. These are the people who “know” things and it drives me absolutely crazy.
They hear from such and such, who is the most credible person ever, and that is the way things are. They don’t need to research because they know that the person knows what they’re talking about and that’s all that matters.
Until tomorrow…

Going through some of these is mildly amusing.
Glad to see the picture is still working, here.

NoJoMo Day 26 – 11/26/2012

Rather dull day tying up loose ends at work. Will give it a good 4/5. Much of the work I do might seem like it amounts to mental masturbation, but it’s ultimately important. Why? Because it’s far too easy to spend copious amounts of money just to accommodate someone’s whims.

Essentially, I have to figure out what someone needs to do to finish his job, and ensure he gets tools to accomplish those tasks. What the final product is might not be what he/she imagined, but it’s what he/she needs — for the lowest cost possible.

This is a common graphic used for what I do:

But it’s not completely right, because sales and marketing get the customer to request the thing in the first frame. Isn’t it pretty?

Complicating matters is that many of the “engineers” i deal with are a bit like this guy (pops).

Onto the prompts….

1. Post your favorite recipe.

Five parts dry gin
One part dry vermouth
Ice
Three pitted, stuffed olives.

1. Woke up on time.
2. Did some actual work.
3. FRescheduled conflicting doctor’s appointment for next week to a better time.

Post your favorite recipe.
Five years ago I posted a recipe for a gin martini. While I still really appreciate that, finances have really curtailed my imbibement. The maybe one time in the week that I have a cocktail, i’ts normally a Manhattan. One part sweet vermouth, two parts whiskey. A less-than-stellar review. A couple of dashes of bitters, a cherry. Stir with ice, strain, and drink.Sarah makes a lot of good stuff, but, during the week, I’m eating pretty much whatever my mother wants.
As it gets colder, I’m going to miss some of her cold-weather cooking.
I don’t have many of those to link, unfortunately. I’d probably screw them up if I attempted. My skills have deteriorated.